What You'll Find Inside This Abandoned New York Asylum Is Creepy Yet Amazing
Lea Monroe
Author
Back in the early 1900s, all across the board, our knowledge of mental health issues and how to treat them was nowhere near what it is today. During a time where lobotomies and shock therapy were the only real forms treating of mental health, a world full of neglect and abuse existed at places like the Rockland Psychiatric Center.
Built in 1927, this mental facility originally had 5,768 beds. While a steady decline of inpatients at the center occurred during the 1970s, just roughly 10 years prior Rockland was hitting peak numbers. In 1959 during its peak year, the psychiatric center had 2,000 staff members on the campus, along with more than 9,000 patients.
Like many other mental health centers open during this time, mistreatment of patients and stories of violence spread like wildfire. It was even in the late 1950s that a supposed Rockland Psych patient escaped and murdered a woman in her nearby home, causing locals to grow gravely concerned. Many of Rockland Psychiatric Center’s patients that are still alive today say they’ve done their best to repress any memories they have from their time there, as they were treated so horribly. While almost all of the buildings on this 600-acre center are abandoned and closed, there are surprisingly some buildings still open and operating.
While the site of the Rockland Psychiatric Center has been a longtime favorite for urban adventurers, in recent years the abandoned asylum has gained more attention for new reasons. If you aren’t living off the grid and are familiar with a little thing called Netflix, then there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard of the show Orange Is the New Black. Visible in the comedy’s most recent season, this New York spot was used as a filming location for the popular show’s exterior scenes.
Ready to see what the halls of this abandoned area are looking like now? Let’s check out what lies inside this creepy yet amazing New York asylum:
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Below you can watch footage from the inside of Rockland Psychiatric Center, where you can see one of the asylum’s most popular attractions… the bowling alley:
Have you ever heard of this semi-abandoned psychiatric center? Find us on our Facebook page, New York Only and tell us if you have any stories about this creepy location!
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